


netanalo

by js71



Series: Assorted Star Wars Splashes (w/Dai Bendu) [6]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 Has PTSD, CT-7567 | Rex Has PTSD, Clones Have PTSD, Force Visions, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Post-Umbara Arc (Star Wars), Psychometry, the clones all do we need a tag for that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/js71/pseuds/js71
Summary: netanalo: (Dai Bendu) lit. remembrance vision; a Force echo, a glimpse into the pastThe Senate had sent a child to see into the past. A Padawan, Ahsoka's age, not much older. Rex's heart pounded in his chest, climbing towards his throat, because damn the Senate, did they know how this would affect the kid, or did they just not care?
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Cal Kestis, Cal Kestis & Jaro Tapal, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Assorted Star Wars Splashes (w/Dai Bendu) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977589
Comments: 8
Kudos: 186





	netanalo

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A bullet to the right man (pulled it back)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333485) by [blackkat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat). 



They sent another Jedi. This one, a lasat, with pale purple skin - or was it fur? - and just as tall as Krell. Rex didn’t want to deal with the Jedi, deal with any Jedi other than those he’d previously served under and trusted, but he was the CO. He had to go forwards and greet the General. So that was exactly what Rex did, flanked by Fives, who kept his helmet on, same as Rex. Nobody was relaxed. Rex's eyes scanned the vode, scattered about the base, looking casual, but they were all tense as the ship lowered down to the ground. Several of them were checking over their weapons, but not taking them apart.

It wasn't hard to figure out what they were scared of. Rex had heard stories, from Ahsoka. Not that she knew that - she tended to have conversations with people over her comm, people back at the Temple, and she didn't always notice that he was within hearing range, too distracted by her conversations. And Rex heard. How Jedi were Falling, because of the war. How they were losing their minds, and how she was scared her Master or Grand Master or she'd be next.

There was a hiss as the ship's ramp settled down on the ground, and a figure stepped out. Rex noticed how Fives tensed, ever so much, as they stepped down. Krell had been just as tall as this Jedi, although they were not the same kind, only similar in height and build. Rex wondered if that had been accidental, or if someone had decided to traumatize his men further. Ka'ra, he hoped not. Not that it was likely. The Republic didn't care about his brothers.

"Captain Rex?" The Jedi, who Rex belatedly identified as a lasat, said, stepping out off of the ship, and onto the ground. Rex lifted his chin, his breaths rebounding off the inside of his helmet. He fought the urge to run, beating it down because the Jedi who Fell were far and few and they were keeping an eye on them, Rex knew, because Ahsoka knew, and Ahsoka got the right information. "I am Master Jaro Tapal."

"Sir," Rex said, feeling his heart pound. He wasn't stupid. Ahsoka had stared at him more than once when she was high on adrenaline or lack of sleep, and blandly mentioned how his thoughts were loud or how he was feeling, always spot-on, always startling. This Jedi had to know how scared he was. Had to. Not a chance he didn't. "Welcome to Umbra."

The lasat hadn't used a number, but his lightsaber was similar to Krell's. Double-bladed. Thanks to Ahsoka's lessons, which Rex ended up listening to and sometimes helping with, he knew that it was a saberstaff, and not a folding one like Krell's had been. It was too similar not to make his mouth dry, and make him want to run away.

"It feels strange," a new voice said, and Rex almost, _almost_ flinched, controlling himself enough that the reaction was a twitch of his hand, towards his blaster. Fives was utterly still, carved of ice. From behind Tapal, the owner of the voice appeared, and Rex just about had a heart attack at the sight of the kid. He looked to be maybe six or seven years old. In nat-born years, that was what, twelve? Fourteen? Red hair, scarily pale skin, and a braid that trailed from behind his ear, all the way to his shoulder. "Like shadows."

A Padawan. A Padawan who had to be at least as short as Ahsoka had been when they'd first met, if not shorter, and his appearance wasn't helped by how tall his Master was, the lasat completely dwarfing him. All Rex could imagine was that kid, standing beside Krell, instead of Tapal. He barely suppressed a shutter.

Tapal turned, lifting one arm, ever so slightly, fingers curling in just that much. The Padawan stepped forwards, standing close to his side, trust given easily. The boy relaxed, ever so slightly.

"My Padawan, Cal Kestis. The Senate sent us to get a full report."

The Senate. A full report. That phrasing was deliberate. At the start of the war, Rex wouldn't have thought so, but now, he knew it was. The Jedi were smart. They knew what they could say about the Republic, and what they couldn't. They knew how to phrase things very delicately, how to arrange words just so that you could read in between the lines and know exactly right. The way Tapal said _the Senate_ told Rex all he needed to know.

"I already submitted the report, sir," Rex said tightly, his heart crawling towards his throat, leaving his stomach churning and chest empty. _The Senate_ kept repeating in his head, bouncing around his skull like one of those balls some of the vode found on Ryloth that bounced endlessly, that they made a game out of trying to catch. "I wrote it myself."

"Not that kind of report," Tapal said, voice relaxed, but the way his fingers curled around his Padawan's shoulders, pulling him ever so slightly closer, protecting him just that much more betrayed what he really thought of their situation. "It's more of a first-hand account."

"Sir," Fives said, and Rex knew that Fives knew what Rex was thinking, and they were both trying to buy the two Jedi a little bit of time, just in case they were right about it, "With all due respect, how much more first-hand can you get?"

They're clones, so they're not trusted by the Republic. To the Republic, they're just droids, with flesh bound together with blood, instead of metal and wires. Any report they give is subject to scrutiny. Rex knows that Cody will sign off on his reports as Obi-Wan before submitting them, not only to save his General the trouble of having to do them once but so that they don't have to review afterwards, waste time.

Damn the Republic.

"He means me," Cal said, looking up to meet Rex's gaze, helmet or no helmet. He visibly swallowed, and lifted one hand, holding it close to his chest, and wiggled his fingers ever so much. "I have psychometry."

Damn. It wasn't even the General, it was the Commander. If it had been the General, it would have been a different matter. Rex, through Cody, knew what psychometry was, as Cody worked under General Kenobi, who was apparently friends with someone who had it. The few times the 212th had managed to get Kenobi in the med-bay and on proper medication, they'd learned that Kenobi tended to ramble nonsense when high on drugs. Cody knew a frankly terrifying amount of information about the Jedi through those experiences.

So, yes. Rex knew what psychometry was, and he was not at all comfortable with a child doing it. He swallowed. "Sir, I don't think that's a good idea. It wasn't pretty."

Cal knew that Rex could tell. He pressed further into Tapal's side, actions betraying the stability of his voice. "The others are on missions. I can do it."

Rex looked to Tapal, wishing that he would say no, they'd wait for someone with experience and who wouldn't be so traumatized by the thing to come and do it, even though Rex knew he wouldn't, even though he clearly wanted to, with the way he held Cal close, the way he stood in such a particular way. "The Senate wants a report immediately."

Not that the psychometry would be any more believable. One of Ahsoka's friends had it, one of the kids she talked to over her comm all the time in a mixture of Dai Bendu and Basic, one of them had it. Rex had heard how the Jedi weren't believed. Visions weren't accepted by law, in a court, anywhere, really, other than by the other Jedi. Rex wasn't sure he believed them all the time either.

* * *

And that was how Rex found himself leading the two Jedi across the base, towards the locked-up room that held all the things they'd figured would need to be checked over in the report. Krell's weapons, all security footage they could get their hands on, all footage they could get their hands on that didn't have a chance of hurting them, casualty reports and everything else that they could think of that might be needed when the Republic sent their nat-born, non-Jedi officers to conduct an investigation.

Of course, the investigation would be after Umbara was captured. Those officers would never come to an active war zone, their lives were held too high. Unlike the Jedi, who were believed to be invincible by the galaxy, and unlike the clones, who were worth less than droids to the galaxy, nat-borns were valuable. They'd volunteered their lives or some such osik. Were heroes. Rex wanted to punch them all.

His brothers stared, he knew, as he and Fives led the two Jedi across the base. Just Jedi. No more brothers had come down, and Rex could only be glad. They didn't need more of them down here; they needed this to be over, even if Rex had to clue what that meant, or what it'd look like, or anything about it other than _not this._

He tapped in the entrance code that he'd only let Fives have, and followed the two Jedi in, leaving Fives standing guard outside. Cal pressed even closer against Tapal, who's fingers wrapped around the boy's shoulder, pulling him in as they moved through the room. It was an odd sort of walk, with Tapal's long stride and Cal's short steps, but they made it work, familiar in a way that Rex noticed the Jedi having often enough that it hurt; he remembered Barriss and Ahsoka at Geonosis, staring out over the battlefield, the two of them perched on a rock, Ahsoka facing Barriss, arranging that hood-like thing she wore around her shoulders, pinning it back into place after the battle.

"Here," Tapal said, lifting one of the lightsabers from where Rex had discarded them on a crate, barely restraining himself from bolting from the room and ordering someone to blow it to hell and back. He knelt, facing Cal, holding one of the folded weapons up, towards the Padawan. Cal swallowed, a hand, with a visible tremble to it, reaching forwards, fingers brushing the metal.

He froze in place, muscles taut. Tapal was fighting with himself, Rex could tell, in how he twitched to pull the weapon away, yet let his Padawan continue to touch it, wanting to end it, but knowing that having it finished the first time would be the least painful.

Then, Cal collapsed. Tapal pulled the lightsaber away, dropping it to the ground with a clatter that made Rex flinch, and caught his Padawan with a practiced sort of ease, cradling the boy to his chest. Cal was sobbing, the few words that made any sense to Rex's ears untranslatable, the same language that Ahsoka and Anakin and Kenobi screamed in and teased each other with.

"Imkyaian. Xari imkaian."

Tapal looked up to Rex, who was, without warning, very conscious of how close his hand was to his pistol. He deliberately moved it away, beating down the tension that had risen up in him, and forcing himself to at least look relaxed, even if it wouldn't fool anyone who could sense emotions.

"I believe the Senate will be satisfied," Tapal said, in a voice that told Rex they still wouldn't believe it, would still argue like children and get nothing done and wouldn't care, a very slight undertone of steady, near-fury in it. He rose, still holding his Padawan, and nodded towards the exit. "I will begin the report."

The Senate. The Senate. Always the damn Senate. Rex nodded and made himself lead the two Jedi out of the room, and to the med-bay, trying not to remember Ahsoka's meditation chants that she fumbled over because she'd never got the chance to learn the full ones before being shipped out, trying not to remember Barriss healing, far too experienced for one so young. 

The Senate. Not the Council. Rex remembered Ahsoka muttering darkly about the Senate a few times, about how they were hurting people with this war, how her culture was dying without people to preserve the ways of the Jedi. She'd frozen at the realization that without the war, she wouldn't have met Rex or his vode, not that it mattered. Rex also hated the war. It hurt everyone who had to take part in it, and not one of them had the choice. The clones didn't, and the Jedi didn't either.

The Senate had sent a child to do this, instead of waiting for an adult. They had sent a child to get this account, with no regard for his mental state. The Senate had thrown peacekeepers into the war, warrior peacekeepers, yes, but they were peacekeepers, they were not soldiers. How the Senate bought and sold clones, treated them as droids of flesh and cared not for anything they did.

Damn the Senate.

Tapal was far better than Krell. Rex still didn't trust him entirely, wouldn't trust him for a while, but he was far better. He pulled their men in, ordered them to take defensive positions, ordered them to go through the little-used mental checks and medical exams. And Rex watched him, as he watched over Cal, who had fallen asleep after a jumbled explanation of what he'd seen. The boy was on one of the medical cots, at Rex's insistence, despite Tapal saying they'd be fine.

"With all due respect, sir," Kix had said stiffly, crossing his arms over his chest, and staring down the lasat with enough courage to power a solar system, "He's a Padawan, and he's going to stay in here."

Tapal had not argued much. Or at all. His objection had mostly been based around taking space away from the clones, but he also had a half-delirious Padawan in his arms thanks to the Senate, and the clones liked Padawans. They were like little shinies, and there was an urge to defend them. Cal would stay where he was, and that was that. It would only be later, when Tapal was called away for the verbal report, leaving Rex alone with Cal, that the boy opened his eyes, reaching a hand for Rex, who, without thinking, took it, supporting him.

"'Soka talks 'bout you," Cal whispered, hoarsely, and Rex tensed, putting the too-obvious pieces together as Cal's eyes slid shut again. "Keelak henel foh."

Rex scoffed and patted the kid's shoulder. "Go to sleep."

"'Kay."

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://js71.tumblr.com/post/624273937698865152/submit-requests)!


End file.
